--- title: Asymmetric Operational Improvements Plan type: article created: '2026-04-05' updated: '2026-04-05' source_docs: - raw/2025-10-10-client-health-pulse-check-internal-93456328.md tags: - operations - sops - clickup - role-clarity - time-tracking - team-development - asymmetric layer: 2 client_source: null industry_context: null transferable: true --- # Asymmetric Operational Improvements Plan ## Overview During the 2026 strategy session, Mark Hope identified a set of internal operational improvements required to support the company's growth from $80k to $120k/month in retainer revenue. The core insight: inefficient internal processes and unclear role boundaries are consuming senior team time that should be directed toward strategy, client delivery, and business development. These improvements are framed as a prerequisite for scaling — the company cannot add clients and grow headcount without first tightening how existing work gets done. See also: [[wiki/clients/asymmetric/index]] | [[wiki/knowledge/agency-operations/asymmetric-2026-growth-strategy]] --- ## The "Frame" Mental Model Mark introduced a framing concept to guide role clarity and task delegation: - **The Floor**: The lowest-value work a person should ever do. Nothing below the floor — not because you're too good for it, but because it's a waste of your time and someone else should own it. - **The Focus Zone**: The center of the frame — the work that actually matters for your role and your clients. - **The Ceiling**: Implicitly, work above your current scope that belongs to a more senior role. > *"You look back at your day and you go, oh, I spent four hours today doing stupid stuff below my floor."* — Mark Hope The goal is for every team member to operate within their frame, delegate below-floor tasks to junior staff or interns, and stay focused on high-leverage activities. **Example cited**: Mark spent time creating an email signature in HubSpot — a task that should have gone to a junior team member (Mylene, Raphael, or similar). Simple, fast for Mark, but a pattern that compounds into hours of lost strategic time. --- ## Key Improvement Areas ### 1. ClickUp Optimization - Reduce overdue tasks and task backlog - Ensure tasks are properly assigned, scoped, and tracked - Use ClickUp as the single source of truth for work in progress — not Slack, not memory - Isalia Ramirez is the primary owner of ClickUp process and hygiene **Problem pattern**: It currently takes longer to write a ClickUp task than to just do the thing yourself — which causes senior people to bypass the system entirely. The fix is making task creation fast and the handoff reliable. ### 2. SOP Documentation - Create written SOPs for all key repeatable processes - Priority processes to document first (implied from discussion): - New Google Ads campaign setup (brief → strategy → landing page → ad creation) - Client onboarding - Monthly reporting workflow - File and asset organization - SOPs should define who does what at each stage, not just what gets done ### 3. Google Drive Organization - Target: clean up and reorganize Google Drive by end of 2025 (per session timing) - Assets should be findable without a 30-minute search - Specific pain point: logos, brand assets, and client files are scattered ### 4. Time Tracking - Improve accuracy and consistency of time tracking across the team - Time data should be usable for capacity planning and client profitability analysis - Unclear whether a specific tool change was discussed; ClickUp time tracking is the implied default ### 5. Role Clarity Mark outlined a clearer org structure during the session: | Role | Owner | Focus | |---|---|---| | Business Development & Strategy | Mark Hope | New client acquisition, company strategy | | Client Delivery / Account Management | Melissa Cusumano + AMs | Client relationships, delivery oversight | | Performance Marketing | Gilbert | All paid advertising (Google, Amazon, Bing, Meta) | | CRM / Automation | Chris Ostergaard (proposed) | HubSpot, Salesforce, CRM implementations | | Operations / Admin | Isalia Ramirez | ClickUp, SOPs, scheduling, internal ops | | Execution / Junior Work | Paul, Avokerie, interns | Below-floor tasks for senior team | **Key shift**: Mark explicitly removing himself from execution tasks (HubSpot admin, Salesforce work, website tasks, email signatures). These need owners on the team. **Gilbert's expanded role**: Anup now reports to Gilbert. Gilbert should be briefed before client calls on paid media performance — account managers handle client-facing communication, Gilbert provides the technical input. ### 6. Reducing Low-Value Work for Senior Team Members The "frame" model is the mechanism, but the practical steps are: - Senior team members identify their below-floor tasks and document them - Junior staff / interns are assigned ownership of those task categories - Briefs become the handoff mechanism: a short written brief (why, what, outcome) goes to the executor rather than a verbal ask or doing it yourself - Over time, junior team members' floors rise as they develop skills --- ## Workflow Example: Google Ads Campaign Launch Mark described the ideal task flow for a new campaign as a model for how SOPs should work: 1. **Brief** (Account Manager): Why are we doing this? What's the goal? What's the outcome? 2. **Strategy** (Senior team / Mark): What's the approach? 3. **Landing Page** (Web/content team): Build the destination 4. **Ad Creation** (Performance team / Gilbert's team): Write and launch ads 5. **Measurement** (Account Manager + Gilbert): Track and report results Each step should be owned, documented, and handed off — not collapsed into one person doing everything. --- ## AI Tooling as an Operational Lever Mark demonstrated using ChatGPT + Gamma to compress what would be a full day of analysis into ~30 minutes: - Export Google Ads campaign/keyword/ad group data as Excel → drop into ChatGPT for analysis - Screenshot Google Search Console and Ahrefs data → paste into ChatGPT for synthesis - Take ChatGPT strategy output → paste into Gamma to generate a client-ready presentation deck - Export Gamma deck as PDF or publish as a shareable website URL This workflow is intended to be adopted by account managers for regular client reporting and strategy prep — reducing dependence on Mark for insight generation. **Tool notes from session**: - ChatGPT: strong for data analysis, does not reliably read URLs - Claude: can read the internet / URLs - Gamma: presentation and site generation from text input - Comet browser (Perplexity-connected): emerging tool Mark flagged as worth watching A formal AI tools training session was referenced as upcoming. --- ## Action Items - [ ] **Isalia Ramirez**: Schedule Q4 planning meeting (week after next) to continue business plan discussion and ops review - [ ] **Isalia Ramirez**: Drive ClickUp cleanup — reduce overdue tasks, enforce task hygiene - [ ] **All senior team**: Identify and document below-floor tasks; hand off to junior staff - [ ] **Mark Hope**: Stop doing execution tasks (HubSpot admin, Salesforce, website work, email signatures) — identify owners for each - [ ] **Team**: Clean up Google Drive file organization - [ ] **Isalia Ramirez + team leads**: Begin drafting SOPs for key repeatable processes - [ ] **Melissa Cusumano**: Brief Gilbert before client calls involving paid media performance --- ## Related - [[wiki/knowledge/agency-operations/asymmetric-2026-growth-strategy]] - [[wiki/knowledge/agency-operations/asymmetric-repositioning]] - [[wiki/knowledge/agency-operations/asymmetric-service-offerings]] - [[wiki/clients/asymmetric/index]]